Horkheimer’s own silence on capitalism contradicted his 1939 demand that fascism analysis require it

Evidence

Those who did not wish to speak of capitalism should also be silent about fascism, Horkheimer had written in 1939 in The Jews and Europe'. Now he no longer mentioned capitalism himself either. This was primarily for tactical reasons. If one criticized capitalism, one would have no chance of gaining the goodwill and support of the American authorities which permitted his activities as an American citizen in Germany, and which would possibly allow an Institute to be founded. (The fate of the journal Der Ruf (The Call), founded by Hans Werner Richter and Alfred Andersch, which was banned by the American military government in 1947 for its nihilistic’ ideas about democracy, was only one among many examples showing how narrow were the limits of what the American authorities would permit or even support. William Faulkner’s novels, describing the collapse of the old aristocratic families in the American South and the rise of unscrupulous upstarts, were banned in 1947 even during a preliminary selection in Washington of books to be exported to Germany because, as it was stated, they presented a wholly negative image of American society.) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1722

Categorization

• XREF: Payoff of ch38’s claim that ‘The Jews and Europe’ was the Institute’s first and only general fascism statement. — connects to: Horkheimer himself had renounced the critique of political economy by the 1940s — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 898; Horkheimer abandoned explicit capitalism critique to protect American goodwill — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1722; Horkheimer’s postwar conservatism led him to suppress politically engaged student research — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2356 (+1 more)
• CANDY: Faulkner’s novels being banned as books to export to Germany because they showed a wholly negative image of American society is a striking, tweetable fact.

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer himself had renounced the critique of political economy by the 1940s #corroborates (0.90) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 898
• Horkheimer abandoned explicit capitalism critique to protect American goodwill #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1722
• Horkheimer’s postwar conservatism led him to suppress politically engaged student research #expands (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2356